I know I've grumpled about the definition of youth crew in past installments of YCT, but lately I just can't get enough of the first Beastie Boys record. This 7" EP is probably no secret to those who like early hardcore or the Beastie Boys, but there's something magical contained within these grooves that must be noted. There's no question that it influenced later hardcore in NYC and beyond.

• License to shill.

Before the frat raps, women in cages on stage, unison last word of every line shouting, Rick Rubinization, and rhymes for Tibet's freedom, the Beastie Boys were a solid hardcore unit that started in 1981. Adam Yauch conceived the idea after seeing Black Flag at the Peppermint Lounge on March 14th of 1981 (lore states it was also the first time Ian MacKaye & Henry Rollins saw Black Flag as well), and rounded up John Berry, Kate Schellenbach, and Michael Diamond to create something influenced by the NYHC scene of the time. John Berry came up with the name and the band played their first show on August 5th of the same year. The Beastie Boys opened for legendary groups such as Bad Brains, the Dead Kennedys, the Misfits, and Reagan Youth. Eventually Berry and Schellenbach left. Adam Horovitz from the Young and the Useless joined, Yauch discovered the sampler and soon Kangol bucket hats appeared on top of their heads. But I don't want to talk about all of that. I want to talk about the Polly Wog Stew EP.

Released on November 20th of 1982 on Rat Cage Records, Polly Wog Stew is 10 minutes and forty two seconds of blistering, sneering hardcore. It's not terribly inventive and the chops aren't tight, but since energy and enthusiasm are what count most here, it absolutely rages. "Beastie Boys" is a proclaimation of the band's attitude (dorky but popular at the time) delivered at Bad Brains tempo. "Transit Cop" seems to be the perils of jumping the turnstiles of the subway. "Jimi" starts off as a slow pseudo-psychedelic goof about smoking pot but then tumbles into a vague straight edge message before disintegrating back onto the waterbed. "Holy Snappers" appears to be about a girl named Jill Cuniff who has a new bus pass and likes Batman and Crass. "Riot Fight" is an ode to teenaged inner city fist throwing, "Ode To..." contains some political gripes and threats of a killing spree. "Michelle's Farm" starts off like "Jimi" with a goof on redneck music but then tears into a raging anthem about how awful it is to live on a farm and possibly going to school as an escape but realizing that the entire plan is "hogwash." The record ends with the classic "Egg Raid on Mojo," a description simply about throwing eggs at a person. Liner notes from the Beastie Boys collection The Sounds of Science claim that the song is based on an event where members of the band were denied entry to a club by a bouncer, and then returned later to pelt the bouncer with eggs. I'll go out of my way to say that most of the lyrics and messages on Polly Wog Stew are pretty inane and juvenile, but when you're 12 and mad at your parents, you don't want to read and understand lyrics. You want to throw a bowling ball through a plate glass window.

Collector's note: A really clean copy of the original 7" went for $191 in 2008, that seems to be where the value of this gem peaked.

"Gotta get a little place, gonna keep it real warm, eat only raw meat, never hear the Beastie Boys again." - Steve Albini, 1988